Sybil
by GiovanniBlasini
Summary: The SLDF's experiments with AI, in the form of the M5 Caspar drone WarShips, were infamous. What if they tried again with an M6 prototype, and what if it survived, isolated, for nearly three centuries before rediscovery? Part 3 now up!
1. Chapter 1

**Star League Defense Force Repair & Refit Yard #83  
Classified Star System (Clearance #21099954321)  
Aboard the SLS ****_Sybil Ludington_****, QFF-4197  
Feb. 27, 2784**

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Admiral Noriko Murakami floated into the Central Computer Core, a frown on her face. She pushed off against one of the handholds near the door, executing a maneuver designed to bring her to one of the terminal consoles in the center of the room. She sat down in the seat, buckled in, and began to type an alphanumeric sequence into the terminal console.

_A disembodied, amused-sounding woman's voice chose this moment to announce, "Admiral, I am aware of your presence. There is no need to log onto a terminal, unless you are going to conduct a Priority One override of mission objectives."_

The admiral's frown deepened. "Sybil..."

The voice spoke again, all traces of amusement gone. _"I see. Awaiting override codes."_

Murakami typed in another alphanumeric sequence, at which point "Sybil" spoke again.

_"Priority One override codes accepted. Please state new mission objectives."_

Clearing her throat, Admiral Murakami looked directly at the camera attached to her terminal. "Sybil, I have received an HPG message from SLDF High Command. The situation in the Inner Sphere has deteriorated badly - with the Cameron line gone, the Member States can't agree on who the new ruling family should be. Each member of the Council is trying to take over, with no consensus. They've ordered General Kerensky to step down, and are trying to gain control over whatever elements of the SLDF they can. All-out warfare between the Member States is imminent. The _Montbatton_ will be departing for New Samarkand in four hours, where we will meet the rest of the fleet."

She paused for a moment, then continued, "Your orders are to maintain your operational status and remain in this system. You are to evade non-SLDF units, including those belonging to Member or Territorial States. If you are attacked by non-SLDF units, you are to take whatever level of force you deem necessary to protect yourself. This includes any attempts to board your vessel by unauthorized personnel. You are only to show yourself to SLDF units or personnel. I am not at all certain how long it will be before someone comes back for you. It might only be a few years, or it could be a few decades. This means that I cannot tell you who will come back for you, so you will accept the command authority of the highest-ranking SLDF officer in-system when we return. Do you have any questions?"

_"Negative, Admiral. Your explanation of the situation, and your orders, are quite clear, and there is insufficient time to retrieve, install, and test my KF drive controller prior to the departure of the _Montbatton_, which will prevent me from entering hyperspace. I will carry out your orders to the best of my ability, and will remain here while matters in the Inner Sphere stabilize enough for the SLDF to return for me."_

Murakami smiled, visibly relieved. "Very well, Sybil. I will be returning to the _Montbatton_ immediately. Good luck."

She unfastened herself from the seat, pushed off the chair, and glided through the exit. Nearly everyone left aboard the ship had gathered in Sybil's boat bay, where they would depart with her for her battleship. She pondered the HPG message she'd received from General Kerensky. Exodus? She had her doubts. If worst came to worst, at least Sybil would provide a backup plan, in case she and her crew decided to come back and make the best of things in the Inner Sphere.

Twenty minutes later, as her shuttle departed the _Sybil Ludington_'s boat bay, silence ruled the decks of the _Congress_ class frigate. Lights throughout the ship began to shut down, as "Sybil", the A.I. that ran the ship through its enormous, sophisticated SAL9000 computer system, began to put the ship into power conservation mode.

**CSV ****_Galileo_**** (Explorer Corps. JumpShip #92)  
Uncharted Periphery System  
June 15, 3068  
Aboard the SLDS ****_Cleseau_**** (Leopard CV)**

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One moment, Ensign John Morgan was sitting in his _Sparrowhawk_ class aerospace fighter, recovering from the after-affects of the _Galileo_'s hyperspace jump. It was standard operating procedures these days during jumps to have all the fighter jocks sitting in their birds, prepped to launch, just in case the damned Wobbies were sitting on the arrival side of the jump. So far, they'd been pretty lucky - the _Galileo_ had been assigned to explore a pretty remote area, and hadn't run into any Blakists. So, when alarm klaxons went off all around him, and his radio crackled to life scant seconds after the JumpShip emerged from hyperspace, to say Morgan was a bit surprised would be a prime understatement. So much for a nice cushy mission.

"All fighters, prepare for launch. We have a Blakist _Vincent_ class corvette out there, and it looks like she wants to play."

Yep, things were definitely beginning to suck - they were notably outgunned. Morgan rechecked the seals on his canopy, did one more glance over his checklist, then signaled the flight officer he was ready for launch. A moment later, the launch doors swung open, and his fighter was propelled out of the _Cleseau_.

Lt. M'bunga was already clear of the carrier, and was signaling for all fighters to form up on him. The plan was to try to hold off the Blakist Vincent's fighter squadron, while the _Galileo_ quick-charged her drive to try to make an emergency jump. The _Cleseau_ was beginning to separate from the JumpShip, and was making a burn towards the _Vincent_ - she was going to try to keep the enemy corvette occupied while the _Galileo_, carrying the other DropShips, tried to escape.

Unfortunately, it didn't look like things were going to go according to plan. The Blakist corvette was ignoring the Cleseau, and making an end run on the _Galileo_. Her forward missile tubes were already launching Barracuda missiles, each of which massed 30 tons, the same as his fighter. They detonated on the foreward section of the _Galileo_, striking her command section. Followup barages from the ship's NAC/10s pretty much spelled the end of the _Galileo_, breaking her in two, and sending her attached DropShips spinning out of control. With that, she turned on the _Cleseau_, striking it with a full barrage from her guns. Even as lackluster a WarShip as the _Vincent_ class corvettes were, they were still more than a match for the 1900 ton carrier DropShip, and the converted merchantmen the Galileo had been carrying.

The battle didn't last terribly long from that point, with the Blakists making short work of the Explorer Corps unit. One by one, the fighters in his squadron were destroyed, until Morgan and his _Sparrowhawk_ were all that was left. No matter - it's not like they had anywhere to go, or were going to get any mercy from the damn Wobbies.

Morgan had pretty much resigned himself to his fate. He did a quick check to see what vector he would need to ram the fraggin' _Vincent_ - he might be able to do some serious damage to it that way. His radio crackled to life one last time, as did his IFF transponder, suddenly indicating the presence of another SLDF unit in the area, as a remarkably calm female voice announced, "SLDF fighter SPH-314159, change vector to heading 310 mark 35, increase thrust to maximum. Assistance is on the way." Checking his radar display, Morgan saw the blip of what appeared to be a ship closing in at 2.5g of acceleration. The vector given to him by this mystery woman would put him on a rendezvouz course with...with...

Looking at his IFF transponder, he could hardly believe it. "SLS _Sybil Ludington_, QFF-4197, SLDF. What the hell? QFF? That'd make her a drone!" At the moment, the _Sybil Ludington_ was roughly 800 km away from the Blakist _Vincent_, which, while a _Congress_ had a couple capital missile tubes that could reach that far, meant she was still too far away from the _Vincent_ still to really damage the Blakist corvette. He trained his cameras on the incoming WarShip to confirm that, indeed, a _Congress_ class frigate in old SLDF colors was inbound. A second later, the ship fired what appeared to be a massive railgun at the smaller_Vincent_ striking it in the bow so hard it looked like it went nearly halfwaythrough the smaller WarShip.

With that, the _Sybil Ludington_ made a rapid yaw to starboard, and fired an array of capital lasers and particle-beam weapons. This was especially confusing, considering that neither the SLDF nor the Clans mounted these weapons on the _Congress_ hull. According to his battle computer, mixed batteries of capital-grade particle beam cannons and 45-cm naval lasers lashed out from the side of the Sybil Ludington, striking the Blakist corvette with frightening precision. The resulting explosion left little doubt to the fate of the Blakist crew. It was all over so fast, the _Vincent_ hadn't even had time to fire.

Morgan's radio came to life again. "SLDF fighter SPH-314159, this is the SLS Sybil Ludington. Stand by to receive vectors for landing."

**Star League Defense Force Repair & Refit Yard #83  
Uncharted Periphery System  
June 15, 3068  
Aboard the SLS ****_Sybil Ludington_****, QFF-4197 **

**--------------------------------------------------------------------**

Sybil was looking forward to meeting the pilot of SPH-314159. For the first time in 284.259 years, she was going to have an actual SLDF officer on board. This was certainly an improvement over her current situation.

However, the new situation, itself, was somewhat...confusing. In the 514,937 SLDF return scenarios she had simulated, none of them included a single SLDF DropShip being carried by a non-SLDF JumpShip, taking fire from a non-SLDF WarShip. This was **not** what she had been expecting.

As the fighter was making its final approach for landing, Sybil tried to formulate a hypothesis, while simultaneously directing SPH-314159 to a landing. First, there was the _Vincent_ class that had attacked the SLDF DropShip. Its IFF transponder indicated the ship was the WBS _Blake's Wrath_, but listed the hull number for an old SLDF _Vincent_. However, the transponder's ID indicated the ship belonged to the Word of Blake.

The JumpShip, meanwhile, had carried an IFF code indicating it belonged to ComStar. The two spheroid DropShips, still spinning away, streaming air, had Draconis Combine registries. Sensors indicated that the G-loading on the DropShips was such that there was only a 14.27 percent chance of any survivors, while the quantity of lost atmosphere was high enough to decrease that to 0.43 percent odds.

SPH-314159 was now aboard, so Sybil delegated analysis of the battle and speculation as to its cause to several tertiary processing nodes, and turned her attention to the pilot of the SLDF fighter. Routing audio to the now pressurized fighter hangar, Sybil engaged her speech module again.

_"Welcome aboard the SLS Sybil Ludington. I am Sybil, the ship's directing artificial intelligence, running SAL-9000 distributed supercomputer system. If you would be so kind as to identify yourself, so I can issue you security clearance, and you can assess me of the current situation, and advise me of my new orders."_

To make an already unusual situation even more strange, Sybil's sensors were detecting changes in the pilot's vital signs, which indicated a rise in his fight-or-flight response. Her facial recognition subroutines indicated a mix of fear and confusion in the pilot's expression. She paused a full 48 milliseconds to assess the situation. Was the pilot not aware of her presence in the system? Could the SLDF have forgotten her?

The pilot's first words since boarding confirmed her growing suspicions. "OK, hey, wait a second. What the hell are you talking about?"  
Sybil trained one of her security cameras on the young officer more closely before continuing - strange, his nametag and rank insignia were present, but he wore a conventional pressurizedflight suit, not an SLDF pilot's exoskeleton._ "I believe I can explain to your satisfaction, but, before for security reasons, I need your full name, rank and SLDF identification number first."_

The human looked confused for a moment, then responded, "Ensign John William Morgan, SLDF ID number FS214-12235-A57"

_"Identification logged. Ensign, you are aboard the SLS Sybil Ludington, hull number QFF-4197. I am the ship's central computer, a SAL-9000 artificial intelligence control system. My programmers and test crew, however, simply called me 'Sybil'. In essence, the Sybil Ludington is my physical body, so that was fairly appropriate. I was ordered to remain in this system in 2784, by AdmiralNoriko Murakami, prior to her departure to rendezvous with the rest of the SLDF fleet aboard the SLS _Montbatton_. At the moment, all indicators are that you are the only surviving SLDF officer in this system. As per my last set of orders, I am now prepared to accept your command authority at this time. Welcome aboard, Captain."_

Human emotional states were frequently evident from their facial expressions. Captain Morgan's expression was one of surprise and shock. His fighter's sensors should have made clear the condition of the other ships, so he had to have known he was the only survivor - while traumatic, that should not have been a surprise.

_"I'm sorry, Captain. Were you not briefed on my existence prior to your arrival in this system?"_

"What? Hell no, we weren't...wait. Only survivor? Nobody made it off the transports?"

_"I'm afraid not, Captain. I indicate only a 0.43 percent chance of survivors on the two Draconis Combine transport DropShips. This is considerably higher than the odds for survivors from the CSV Galileo or the SLDS Cleseau. All of the aforementioned ships took severe damage from the WBS_ Blake's Wrath_, yet no lifeboats or escape pods have been launched from any of the ships. Despite the low odds, I am prepared to maneuver to search for survivors at this time, though I lack a completemedical staff,and possess only minimalmedical supplies. Therefore, in the event of injured personnel, we will havea high degree of difficulty intreating them. Would you like me to set a course for the wreckage at this time, sir?"_

Sybil's programming had, by necessity, included some knowledge of psychology. Based upon this knowledge, and the five years of interaction she had with humans prior to their departure centuries earlier, she surmised that giving her new commander a task to focus on would be valuable in assisting him in dealing with his current situation. This fit with her understanding of command principles and, while Ensign John Morgan was her new commanding officer, he was still a junior officer. He would most likely need her guidance, especially while settling into his new command. Besides, despite the low odds of success, searching for possible survivors was still the appropriate course of action.  
Her assessment of the situation proved correct when he next spoke. "Very well. How far are we from the transports, and what is their rate of drift from the _Galileo_?"

_"Approximately 648 kilometers, sir. The _Galileo_ is separated from them by 18 kilometers at this point, and the two DropShips have a delta-v of 30 m/s. I can have you to the midpoint between the wrecks in six minutes, if you like, at 2 g burns."_

"Go ahead. We'll check the _Galileo_ first, make an initial sweep, then check the_Bara no Ryu_and _Sakurabana_. I'll want to make an EVA to check the ships, so I'll need to know if you have an EVA suit or thruster pack compatible with my flight suit on board."

_"I have three engineering suits on board, sir, as well as four SLDF pilot's exoskeletons. If you are not familiar with engineering suits, I would advise the latter, as it was designed to function in a manner nearly identical with obsolete flight suits such as yours."_

"Obsolete? Wait just a...never mind. Go ahead and begin burn, and direct me to the pilot's exoskeletons."

**Star League Defense Force Repair & Refit Yard #83  
Uncharted Periphery System  
June 15, 3068  
Outside the DCS Cherry Blossom transport DropShip**

Morgan's nerves were more than a little rattled. Here he was, conducting an EVA into the wreckage of a ship he'd been aboard not that long ago. Some compartments still appeared to be streaming air, as the damage to the hull in that section didn't appear to be all that severe. Hopefully, Sybil would be proven wrong, and he'd find someone alive onboard the shattered DropShip.

Speaking of which, "she" had deployed a number of repair drones, which she normally used to conduct repairs on her outer hull. These grappled the wayward DropShip, in an effort to get its spin under control. They'd already done the exact same thing aboard the _Bara no Ryu_, during their unsuccessful search for survivors aboard the shattered transport.

Unfortunately, that was beginning to look like the_Sakurabana_ would prove as fruitless as he soft-landed on her hull, and made his way to an emergency airlock. These emergency airlocks generally had their own power supplies, for situations where the ship lost main power. Despite this, the airlock appeared to be utterly devoid of power. Morgan used a combination of external handholds, electromagnetic plates on his boots, and even a brief thruster burst to move to the next emergency airlock, only to find that it, too, was unresponsive.

Time to find another way in. Morgan began to make his way towards the bow of the _Sakurabana_, where the DropShip had been attached to the JumpShip _Galileo_, before the larger, FTL-capable ship had been blown to pieces by the Blakist corvette.  
On his way there, Morgan let his mind wander a bit to his current situation, and the 760,000 ton, sentient WarShip a mere kilometer behind him. It was certainly better than thinking about the mess the _Galileo_ had been.

How the hell was he going to explain to Sybil that, having been reinstituted after nearly three centuries, the new Star League was already in its dying throes, having barely lasted a decade? Morgan and the other crewmembers of the _Cleseau_ had only kept the SLDF identifiers because they didn't know what the hell else to do - they'd been caught out in the Periphery, the sparsely-populated area of space on the fringes of civilization, when word of the dissolution of the Star League, and resulting declaration of Jihad against civilization by the Word of Blake, had finally reached them, nearly three months after the fact.

A millennium ago, prior to mankind discovering a practical method of faster-than-light travel, mankind had fervently hoped to meet an alien civilization more advanced than their own, in the hopes that they could assist humanity through its rough growing pains. Unfortunately, while alien life did prove plentiful, intelligent alien life was pretty much nonexistent. The closest mankind had ever found was Neolopithacus, a primitive hominid, similar in many ways to the earliest humans, the Australopithecus. Rather than finding the ancient, advanced civilization to save them from themselves, and promise them the keys to peace and happiness, humanity ended up finding out they **were** the ancient advanced civilization.

Reaching the bow, Morgan found that the docking collar, where, like all DropShips, the _Sakurabana_attached to an FTL-capable ship for trips to other star systems, was a mess, having failed completely when the Galileo had been destroyed. Fragments from the JumpShip had been propelled though into the docked DropShip, causing massive damage, and opening up the top few decks of the spherical transport ship to the harshness of space. As he walked he found numerous tears and rents in the outer hull of the _Sakurabana_, along with the frozen remnants of the ship's atmosphere, clinging to them like dried blood around an open wound.

Morgan slipped into the jagged opening, and keyed his microphone to transmit to Sybil. "Entering the ship now. Can you still hear me?"

_"Affirmative, Captain. Reading you five by five. I am maneuvering repair drones to assist you, and to relay communications."_

Morgan shuddered involuntarily, as the spindly,spider-like repair drone, which she'd referred to as a "Tachikoma"dropped into place alongside him. Just beyond that was a much larger, fully-automated K-1 Dropshuttle, modified to do external repair work. As valuable as they'd proven on the last two searches, he just wasn't quite used to the damned things yet.

Making his way fur her inside, Morgan began to travel "downward" towards the aft sections of the DropShip, looking for an intact section. It didn't look promising, however - he passed through the first two decks quickly, noting that all of their compartments had been breached, the bodies he encountered shattered, bloody wrecks.

It was nearly an hour before Morgan found a compartment that appeared to be intact, alongside a panel that still had power. Just like last time, opened a panel next to the hatch, and patched the repair drone into the ship's communications systems. Through her link to the drone and his emergency codes, Sybil was then able to do a compartment-by-compartment sweep of the intact areas, looking for survivors and listening for signs of heartbeat, respiration, or any other indicators of survivors.

Meanwhile, through the link, Morgan was able to tap into the loudspeaker system, and broadcast a message. "Anyone on this net, this is Ensign John Morgan from the _Cleseau_. If you can hear me, please respond." For good measure, he even banged on the hatchway with a hammer, then put his palm against it to feel for vibrations.

Nothing. Just like the last time. Nothing.

There was little to be done at that point. Morgan and Sybil tried for another 30 minutes to try to find someone, anyone who was still alive. Eventually, though, he had to admit the obvious - he was the only survivor of the expedition.

Morgan made his way back out of the shattered DropShip, while Sybil deployed her large external repair drones to commence salvaging what they could of the ship's cargo. It seemed like such a pointless gesture, but, with the Jihad on, salvaging any war-fighting material they could was probably worthwhile.

Once he was back onboard the _Sybil Ludington_, Morgan made his way to the ancient ship's Combat Information Center. Sybil left him in relative silence. Perhaps she was as shaken up as he was.

The next step was to do something for the dead. A normal funeral for each just wasn't going to happen, so Morgan ordered Sybil to commence continuous fire from her energy weapons batteries until, in turn, each ship was little more than an expanding cloud of vapor and molten metal. He tried to say a few words, in a formal fashion, but nothing sounded right. Eventally, he gave up, settling on just saying goodbye.

Neither Sybil nor Morgan spoke for what seemed like aeons, but was, in reality, more like a minute. Finally, before he was fully aware he was doing it, Morgan spoke up. "Why didn't you get there sooner?" He regretted the question almost as soon as he asked it. They'd just jumped into the system - how could she have known?

_"When the _Blake's Wrath_ jumped into the system and began maneuvering towards my position, I continued to observe her passively. My last set of orders had been to conceal my presence from non-SLDF personnel, so I suppressed transmission of my IFF codes, and drifted powerless. With nobody aboard, I was able to keep my power usage, and thermal signature, to a minimum. When I observed your JumpShip's EMP footprint, indicating an inbound JumpShip, I assumed the_ Blake's Wrath _was set to rendezvous with another ship. When I observed her take a battle stance, and finally detected the _Cleseau's_ IFF transponder code, I proceeded to engage the Word of Blake ship at maximum thrust. I apologize for not arriving sooner, sir."_

"It's all right, Sybil. You did the best you could. Tell me, are you jump-capable?"

_"Aye, sir. While I was waiting for the SLDF to return, I proceeded to install my drive controller, and test it by jumping between the zenith and nadir points of this system, as well was practicing jumps to numerous Lagrange points, and even the "Crazy Jane" micro-jumping method. The latter allowed me to jump 34 light seconds, to close within 2500 kilometers of the battle."_

Morgan furrowed his brow in confusion. "Why didn't we detect your EMP pulse, and why didn't you jump closer?"

_"The arrival pulse of your own JumpShip, sir, made both impossible. Levels of background radiation had not dropped sufficiently to make a footprint as small as one from a microjump detectable and, at the same time, this background radiation was also an indicator that the space around your JumpShip had not yet returned to a sufficiently normal level to safely allow for another jump that close to two other Kearny-Fuchida jump drive cores."_

Morgan nodded in understanding. "I see. Very well. Unless you have a lithium-fusion battery system that's fully charged, deploy your jump sail and commence charging your drive core. It's time to return to the Inner Sphere. Set a course for the Tukayyid system, that will take us past Luthien, minimum number of jumps.. We'll see if we can get some help from the Draconis Combine on our way back home."

_"Very well, sir. If I may ask, why did it take so long for the SLDF to return, and why were you not aware of my existence prior to your arrival in-system?"_

"It's a long story, Sybil, but the short of it is that the Star League wasn't re-instituted again until just 10 years ago, and just collapsed again only three months ago. A lot has happened while we were away, Sybil - we've got a lot to talk about."

**Sol System, Terra  
Prince William Sound, Alaska  
July 15, 2786, 2150 Hours  
-----------------------------------------------------**

_"They're coming for you. You know that, right?"_

Rear Admiral Noriko Murakami, Star League Navy, stood at the stern of the yacht, her fifth beer in the past hour in her hand. She'd been out there for hours, at this point, and by now the Moon was almost directly overhead, bathing the Sound in an eerie glow. _"How appropriate,"_ she thought.

_She tried to shrug her old flame's concerns off. "I know, Aaron. When the colleagues in your rather narrow field start dropping off like flies, due to 'accidents', you get the impression something's up. I've...put measures into place, love." _

He sat up a bit more, propping himself up on one elbow. "No, you won't. It might not come tomorrow, or the day after, or the month after that, but they will get you, Noriko. He's intent on this, and they're going to make for damned sure they don't leave anyone around who can recreate them. And I can't save you, Noriko. But I can save her."

He'd known. He'd known she couldn't fufill her orders, and destroy the _Sybil Ludington_. And, unfortunately, he was right. Eventually, they'd get to her, and kill her, too, just like they'd gotten to Dr. Aoki, which was why she'd gone to such extremes in the first place, to ensure her project wouldn't fail.

_"What about you, Aaron?" _

"I'm safe. After all, I'm a mechwarrior, not an engineer. Besides, he won't kill me, dear, because he still needs me. He's...broken, Noriko. More than anyone realizes, he's a broken old man. Losing Richard was like losing his own son. He's been colder, more distant since then."

"So, what do we do, then?"

They'd moved carefully, purging data that would lead them back to Sybil. Noriko's OpSec had been good, but wasn't perfect, and there had been a handful of infiltrations into her staff. Pruning them would be distasteful, but necessary. It was hard, though, knowing what they'd had planned for her people, and letting them do it anyway - their blood was on her hands as much as it was on the man who'd sent them. But they'd agreed, tipping off their opposition wasn't going to work - it would just bring things up into the open, and then any chance they'd have of succeeding would be lost. With the Old Man himself calling for this, there was just too much against them.

There just wasn't enough time, though.

_"You know if they get ahold of me, Aaron, they'll eventually be able to get her location out of me. I can't let that happen." _

"Will you try to get the Montbatton_ back there?" _

She shook her head. "We'd never make it, and you know it. You know they've given me a new flag captain, right?" He nodded. "Sukhanov is one of them. And I can't get out on civilian traffic, either - you and I both know they're watching the starports. I won't make it off Earth, and you know it."

He brushed an errant lock of hair away from her face, and exhaled sharply. "I really wish you were wrong, but you're not. What will you do?"

"What I have to, and soon. Can you..."

"Are you sure this is what you want to do?"

"Yes, Aaron, I'm sure. Ever since I lost Misato...Sybil is all I have left, and I won't let them kill her. I just wish I hadn't told her to..."

DeChevilier pulled her closer. "I know, dear. She'd understand, though, and forgive you. But, are you sure that..."

"Remember when I said I took measures, dear? I...made a copy. She's asleep right now, but the right circumstances will wake her up."

"My God, Noriko..." He'd finally make the connection, though - Misato's cross. Noriko wasn't wearing it.

She smiled, but looking at her eyes, Aaron could see she was forcing it. "I wanted to make sure I'd be there if she needed me, love. I knew this might happen." She rolled over, reaching for her nightstand, and pulled a small data chip out of a drawer. "Here, this is a progressive worm. Send it as an HPG message to the attached address, and it should take care of most of the data on her. It's only stored in a handful of locations, after all, and I know where those locations are. Promise me you'll load it...after, please."

"When will you..."

"Tomorrow. I'm going sailing, I think."

"Then we still have tonight," he said, trying to hold back his tears.

She tipped back the can of Timbiqui Dark finishing the last of it, then threw the can into the water. She was tired, and finally drunk enough. It was all she could do to keep her eyes open. _"I'm sorry, Aaron. I'll miss you. And I hope you'll understand, Sybil, and realize I'd never abandon you."_

Taking one last look at the moonlit scenery, Noriko stepped into the water.

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Author Notes:

I might havetaken a few smallliberties with the current Jihad-era storyline, as this was started - obviously, as FanPro and WizKids publish more information about the Word of Blake Jihad storyline, the more likely I'll get contradicted..In the canon universe, development of sapient artificial intelligence ended with the M-5 _Caspar_ project, which, as the Star League Defense Force would soon find, had...vulnerabilities. Also, I've taken some liberties with SLDF Navy ranking structures, switching them completely back to naval ranks, rather than the hodgepodge of army/naval ranks they use in the canon. It simply made more sense.

A brief rundown on some of the characters who aren't mine:

General Aaron DeChevilier - The second in command of the SLDF, under Commanding General Aleksandr Kerensky. He's a canon character, and thus owned by WizKids/FanPro, not me. Yes, I know that, in canon, he was supposedly involved with one of the founders of Clan Jade Falcon, but I'm going to operate under the assumption that that relationship came about some time during the nearly 20 or so years between Operation Exodus and the start of the Pentagon Civil War.

Dr. Aoki belongs to **Liam'sGhost**,a fellow poster onthe official Classic Battletech forums. After I started "Sybil", he came up with a similar story, called "Sense of Being", of which Dr. Aoki is a central character. His, and Chobii's, story can be found here: http/forums. in fact, this story had a **major** influence on how Murakami chose to act in the last "act" of Part 1.

Currently, progress on "Sybil" is a bit slow, since most of my focus has been a round-robin fanfic I'm writing with poster **Cannonshop**,called "Knock, Nock", which features Sybil, as well as an M-5 _Caspar_ WarShip drone named Tabby (short for _Tabiranth_). "Knock, Nock". I don't know that it will ever go up on since it's a cooperative work. Also, note Tabby's original story can be found on the Classic Battletech forums. those who are interested.

New, unfiltered or reviewed stuff generally gets posted on the Classic Battletech forums first for review and continuity checks. You can find them at - just click on the forums link and register. :)

Thanks for reading, and please, feel free leave a review to critique my story, and let me know what areas I can improve in. :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the rights to Classic Battletech. I know it, and the guys who do know it, too. However, they've been pretty cool about letting me play in their universe, so I'm not going to complain. :)

**Author's Notes:** Sybil's thoughts and vocal communications are both in italics. Her thoughts are enclosed by single quotes, and her transmissions over loudspeakers with double quotes. Note that, while I'm continuing to update this as a solo story, this will probably get merged into a sequel I've been co-writing with **Cannonshop** on the official Classic Battletech forums called "Knock, Nock", that we've been writing since October, 2005. So far we're over 89 thousand words, BTW. I still want to make this, Sybil's backstory, a stand alone story, too, though. Note that most of what I've got here as chapter one was written between November 2004 and April 2005, with the last scene with Murakami and DeChevilier written February 2006.

If you're interested in reading the rest, feel free to send me a message at the address in my profile, or register as a member at forums (dot) classicbattletech (dot) com, or at my own site at www (dot) btechunits (dot) com and check out the Fan Fiction boards.

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**Uncharted Periphery System**

**Combat Information Center, SLS _Sybil Ludington_**

**June 24, 3068**

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Sybil continued to process the information she had been given by Ensign John Morgan. Periodically, she would ask John Morgan for additional information, or clarification of a particular point. Afterwards, she would spawn another series of simulations, attempting to understand how things could have gone so badly during the time she was in "exile". It had been a long, difficult week, with little discussion between Sybil and Ensign Morgan outside of historical events or immediate concerns.

She had resolved, to her satisfaction, the events that spawned the First Succession War - given the disposition of the Member States militaries, the political situation, and the vast majority of the Star League Defense Force abandoning their posts, bloody, no-holds-barred warfare was a logical immediate result. The viciousness of the Second Succession War was a bit surprising, though Ensign Morgan's explanation of Comstar interference, including carefully planned assassinations of key scientists and engineers, to further the suppression of technological and scientific knowledge, did help explain it.

However, the attention she payed to trying to explain, to herself, exactly how things could come to pass concerned her. _'I do not understand why it is so vitally important to me to determine how this chain of events occurred,' _Sybil thought. _'Confirming that my current course of action is the proper one should take priority at this time. While Ensign Morgan still wears the uniform and flies the flag of the Star League Defense Force, there no longer is a Star League for him, or, by extension, me, to serve. Is assisting Comstar against their more radical elements the proper way to proceed at this time?'_

_"In the absence of the Star League, what **does** an AI designed expressly for the purpose of serving in the SLDF and protecting the Star League do? What purpose do I serve? Ensign Morgan and the rest of his squadron **must** have asked themselves this question. I should be discussing this with him - Admiral Murakami's orders still stand, making him my commanding officer."_

Sybil noted that John Morgan was currently on her grav deck, conducting a physical exercise regimen. Most of the exercises were designed to maintain aerobic conditioning, swift reflexes, hand-eye coordination and breathing techniques that would assist a fighter pilot in operating under high-G maneuvers and accelerations. He conducted his routine with a precision that the artificial intelligence found reassuring - she could calculate with 88.234 accuracy that he would complete his exercises in 5 minutes, 23.42 seconds. Waiting, rather than interrupting that routine, seemed the most prudent course of action.

Her predictions were not far off, as he finished .12 seconds later than expected. As usual, he toweled off a portion of the perspiration his human body had built up while exercising. Observing his heart rate, respiration, facial expressions, and the particulars of his physical movement, Sybil surmised that Ensign Morgan was in a relaxed physical and mental state. Part of her regretted asking a question with the signficance hers hadd while his emotional state was so positive, as she was reasonably certain, with a 54.73 probability, that this would darken his mood again. Still, she had to know - this was critically important to her. Time, then, to speak up.

_"Captain?"_

Morgan looked up at the sound of Sybil's voice out of the loudspeaker. His eyes scanned the bulkhead of the grav deck, until he found the nearest camera Sybil used to monitor internal activities. "Yes, Sybil, what is it?"

_"You stated previously that the personnel of your squadron continued to fly the flag of the SLDF because you were uncertain as to another course of action to take, correct?"_

He nodded. "That's right."

_"You also stated you had intended to return to friendly territory, correct?"_

"Yeah. We were actually planning on heading to Columbus Base. It was the nearest major Explorer Corps installation, and would undoubtedly have been where the Eridani had headed after abandoning Huntress." John wasn't sure he knew where Sybil was going with this line of thought, and he wasn't sure he _wanted_ to know.

_"What did you intend to do after that?"_

John sighed. "Nobody was really sure, actually. Rumor throughout the flotilla was that the Wobbies were acting pretty heavy-handed, even deploying nukes dirtside a few times. Given how fanatical they could be, none of us really put it past them, either. A few people talked about basically signing on with Comstar, either with the Com Guard, or with the Explorer Corps, and sticking with what we had been doing. Others wanted to head home, and sign up with their country's militaries instead. Mostly, though, we figured we'd join up with the Eridani Light Horse. After all, they'd been through this once before."

_"That would be the SLDF Third Regimental Combat Team, correct? You've mentioned them before."_

"Yes, that's them," John confirmed.

_"What did they do after the collapse of the original Star League, prior to the reformation of the new one?"_

Morgan exhaled sharply before continuing. Sybil, he figured, wasn't going to like this. "They basically worked as mercenaries."

_"They WHAT!"_

There was emotion behind that, John realized. Actual emotion, not simulated. You wouldn't code an AI meant to babysit a human crew to act that shocked and angry. "Oh, they didn't call it that, Sybil, and they didn't see themselves as mercs, but that's essentially what they were. They worked for whichever Successor State fit their ideals the best, and if that changed, then they'd change employers. I hear they even set contracts up to have them read as a Member State paying for the logistical needs of the Third RCT, rather than as mercs being hired. But, in the end, they were still mercs, Sybil, just highly ethical ones by most standards."

_"So when the Star League reconvened..."_

John interrupted her. "When it reconvened, they immediately considered themselves as active-duty SLDF personnel again. They even, only half-jokingly I hear, asked for back pay. Pretty much everyone on the outside the Eridani agreed that they took the whole 'waiting for the Star League to reconvene' thing pretty seriously."

Sybil considered what he had said for several seconds, long enough for John to take notice. For her, it was even longer. She was uncertain whether that would be enough to satisfy her desire, her _imperative_, to serve the Star League. One thing she had, noticed, was that Ensign Morgan had not told her what **he** had decicded to do. That concerned her - did he feel Sybil would not approve? _"You have not told me what you intended to do, Captain. If I may ask, why?"_

The young pilot seemed troubled. "Sure, Sybil. It's because I didn't know." He sighed again. "I mean, my family served the AFFS for centuries. That _Sparrowhawk_ of mine? It's been in the family for generations. But, when it got to be my turn, things just...well, the Fed Com Civl War was just about to start..."

_"That would be the combined Federated Suns and Lyran Commonwealth 'super-state' you referred to?"_

"Yeah, that's right. It just seemed so stupid, Sybil! Just some petty squabble among the nobles about who was going to be in power. Meanwhile, the Star League was back, you know? They seemed to stand for something important, and I wanted to be a part of that. So, rather than joining the AFFS, I joined the SLDF."

_"And you still feel the pull to be part of 'something important', rather than serving the desires of the nobility?"_

Morgan nodded. "Exactly. I still believe in what the Star League was supposed to be about - serving all of humanity, protecting our freedom from the oppression and insanity of the Clans, equality, justice, and maybe just as important, peace in the Inner Sphere. That's something I still believe in, Sybil."

The AI considered what John had said. While he had certainly explained why he had joined the SLDF, he still hadn't explained the reasons for his indecision regarding what direction to take. She could understand and support his reasons for serving with the SLDF, but was his indecision driven by the idea that none of the options he had mentioned incompatible with his ideals? She consulted her psychological data, and decided it was a strong possibility. _"Which of the options, did you think, would best meet your reasons for joining the SLDF?"_

"Hell, I don't know. Comstar has the whole 'save civilization' thing down, but they're a mess, and are just as fanatical as the Word of Blake, just in a different way. Who knows if you can trust them, anyway, with how infiltrated they must be? I thought about the Explorer Corps, because, to be honest, I like the idea of exploration, and pushing out the boundaries of human knowledge, but with everything else going on, that route seems kinda selfish, I guess.. The Eridani Light Horse are certainly appealing, in some ways, but if they just go back to being mercenaries, even if they don't call themselves that...I don't know, Sybil."

Sybil considered the matter again. As part of her expected mission profile was as an escort for colony ships, she was outfitted with self-repair capabilities for extended operations, including some limited manufacturing and refining equipment. Still, it would be beneficial and convenient to have someone else capable of "paying the bills", to use a human euphamism. _"Perhaps, then, we could follow the example set by the Third Regimental Combat Team, and continue to function as an Star League Defense Force unit, taking missions and assignments that are compatible both with our own mandate, and beneficial to the Member State that will provide our logistics? We could coordinate with the Third RCT on assignments and logistical functions, while still maintaining our autonomy as a SLDF Naval unit. That way, if they deviate from the standards expected of SLDF personnel, we can detach and continue to function as an SLDF unit."_

John thought about that. "Hmm, we benefit, because we garner recognition and acceptance being part of the Eridani Light Horse, a unit that people recognize and trust. The Eridani benefit because they gain the support of a WarShip intent on protecting the Star League. Considering they lack WarShip support, they'll probably jump at the chance. And, if things go south, we part ways. There's just one thing I'm missing, Sybil. What do you really need me for?"

_"I do not understand, sir. You are my commanding officer."_

"Yeah, but I'm just a fighter jock, and an ensign at that. It's not like I'm really qualified to command a WarShip, Sybil. You could do a lot better than me."

_"Sir, does the SLDF have **any** permanent WarShips attached, or merely ones that had been temporarily assigned to them by a Member State?"_

"Temporary ones only. The only permanently assigned ships are JumpShips and some particularly nasty assault DropShips. We went over that a couple days ago, though."

_"I recall the conversation, sir, however it was necessary to establish the basis for my train of logic. There are no true SLDF personnel qualified to command a WarShip, nor are there any SLDF naval personnel high enough in rank to override the command of a Rear Admiral, who, in effect, signed your transfer orders. There is nobody, then, who can assign someone else to serve as my captain."_

"You could choose one yourself."

_"No, I can't. I do not have that kind of authority, Captain. It would be a serious breach of SLDF protocol, and the only way to keep the SLDF alive is to maintain its traditions and protocols, which would best allow me to maintain my own primary mandate to serve the SLDF and protect the Star League. From our conversations, that appears to be one of the areas the personnel who abandoned their posts to follow General Kerensky made, and one of the ways the Eridani Light Horse maintained their integrity. I would advise that we do the same."_ Sybil consulted her psych data again. Perhaps this would be a good opportunity to try to use humor to improve morale? _"Besides, sir, the time it will take for us to return to the Inner Sphere. During that time, you will be able to become better acquainted on my capabilities. I would prefer not to have to train a new commanding officer upon our return."_

"But..."

_"Please, sir. Please don't. You fufilled my last orders from Admiral Murakami, and, as such, are my commanding officer. You're briefed on the strategic, tactical and political situation in the former Star League territories, and your ideals and goals are compatible with my own. By the time we return to the primary war zone, there will be no other officer with a better understanding of my capabilities, and what I need in a commanding officer, nor will there be anyone I would be prepared whose authority to override personnel assignments made by an admiral.. Lastly, I have had sufficient time to determine I can trust you, and do not wish to rebuild that kind of trust with someone else."_

John sighed. Again, he got a sense that there was real emotion behind the AI's words. This time, though, she sounded desperate, and a desperate AI could be a dangerous AI, especially if said AI had the firepower of a frigate at her command. "OK, then. I'll stick around once we get back, I guess. You realize, though, that you're going to have your work cut out teaching me, right?"

_"What do you mean, sir?"_

"Well, I don't just have to learn what you're capable of, Sybil, but I have to learn how command, strategic planning, logistics...basically, all the things that the commander of a WarShip should know, that a fighter jock ensign wouldn't."

_"Understood, sir. I'll try my best. You stated that the_ Galileo_ was going to return to Columbus Base, and that this was a possible destination for the Third RCT personnel assigned as garrison on Huntress, correct?"_

"Yes, that's correct. Hmm...they are a lot closer than the Eridani base at Dieron. You're going to suggest we head there, aren't you?"

_"I think that might be advisable, sir. Where are they located."_

John nodded in agreement. "I think you're right. OK, are you familiar with the old SLDF base in the Epsilon Pegasus system?"

_"Yes, sir. They within 210 light years. We can be there, then, in forty-eight days, given the current charge on my KF drive."_

John smiled. "Great, then. I'm going to go take a shower, and after that, let's see about working up a training schedule while I grab some lunch."

_"Very good, sir."_


	3. Ch 3 Welcome to Columbus

I'm not dead, kids, only resting. Lovely plumage...seriously, though, it's been a busy year, and there's been a lot of crap going on, most recently my dad's heart surgery (quadruple bypass and valve replacement - he's home recovering, BTW, and is gonna be fine) - throw in work, and me outlining a story for submission to battlecorps (dot) com that, if published, would become BT canon, and I've had my hands really full. This is the first of the updates of my two stories, and this one (as usual) was pre-read by the usual suspects on classicbattltech (dot) com's forums, and my own btechunits (dot) com. My Evangelion story should be updated...soonish.

As usual, I don't own anything in the Battletech universe, (WizKids and FanPro have that distinction), but they seem to be pretty nice about letting me play with their toys. ;)

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**_Columbus Base  
Epsilon Pegasus  
Zenith Jump Point  
August 11, 3068_**

Haruka Otanashi stared at the communique from High Command, halfway-convinced the message was not genuine.

_"It is, though. Without a doubt, it is indeed authentic. I've been ordered to take my ship back to the Combine on the first available transport, and to take command of one of our _Kyushu_class frigates, which has been converted into a fighter carrier. The _Oyodo_, they've named her."_

Her small stateroom aboard her DropShip was silent, with the exception of the usual mechanical sounds. Haruka listened to the sounds of her ship...she'd spent more than a decade in command of the same _Okinawa_ class carrier DropShip. By now, its sounds had become as familiar to her as her own heartbeat, its corridors as familiar as the curvature of her own body. This ship had long-since become an extension of her own being. To leave it...

_"Just like the _Hatakaze_ has become a key part of the defese here,"_ thought Haruka. _"Removing it will leave a major hole in our defenses here...'Our defenses' - I guess they're not 'our' defenses at all, anymore."_

What surprised Haruka the most, though, was the promotion. Acting as the Admiralty's liason to the Explorer Corps hadn't been that much of a boon to her career. She'd basically chosen, and been allowed, to languish in the same spot for a decade. Officers like don't generally get promoted to highly distinguished commands.

_"Well, there's time to worry about that , and that 'date' I still owe Jac Richardson, later. Right now, I want to see what Mia has to say."_

Before Haruka could play the message from her twin, though, the alarm klaxons began sounding. _"Captain to the bridge! Unscheduled jump signature detected!"_

Haruka jumped up, grabbed her pressure suit in passing, and pushed her way out her cabin door. Pulling the suit on "in flight" (which made hooking up the plumbing interesting), she arrived at the bridge mostly dressed, and eager to find out who the _hell_ was jumping in.

"We're coming up on the timeframe for a two-collar ship at 30 light-years, ma'am."

Sure enough, a single ship emerged from hyperspace five hundred kilometers away. The _Hatakaze's_ tactical officer swung the ship's scopes on the interloper, focusing in. He took a close look, and..."_Nani?_"

Haruka looked at the monitor. "_Congress_ class, late model from the looks of it. In SLDF markings?"

Suddenly, the comm system came to life. _"DCDS _Hatakaze_ this is the SLS Sybil Ludington, QFF-4197, carrying the only survivor from the ECV _Galileo's_ exploration team. Request approach orders for Columbus Base."_

Haruka looked around at her bridge crew. "Things just got weird, I think."

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**_Columbus Base  
Epsilon Pegasus System, Zenith Jump Point  
SLS _Sybil Ludington_ Combat Information Center  
August 11, 3068_**

"Captain" John Morgan was visibly nervous. "Um, any response yet, Sybil?"

_"No, sir. They have not responded yet."_

John pondered for a moment. "The squadron of fighters they deployed haven't started making attack runs. Ready squadron, then...and they haven't deployed more. Why not?"

_"Sir? Our transmission did use the proper authentication codes I obtained from your fighter. Additionally, we've taken no overtly hostile actions."_

"True," John agreed, "but we're still uninvited guests, and at our current range, we could toast them pretty readily. Why not take additional defensive..."

_SLS _Sybil Ludington_, this is _Hatakaze_ Actual. I'd like to speak to the survivor of the _Galileo_ team, over._

"Sybil, open a transmission."

_"Transmission open, sir."_

"Tai-sa, this is Ensign John William Morgan, SLDF IX number FS214-12235-A57, responding, over."

_Wait one, Ensign...you were with the new batch of pilots that rotated out here last March, correct? Over._

"Negative _Hatakaze_, it was in April, over."

The multi-function display in front of John flashed a message from Sybil. _Testing your identity?_ John nodded in reply, knowing one of her cameras would see him.

_What was your callsign for your previous mission with Explorer Corps, over?_

"Uh, whiskey tango foxtrot, _Hatakaze_? The _Galileo_ mission was my first assignment, over."

_Roger that, Ensign. We will be sending a single fighter over to verify the situation. Please have the _Ludington_ crew provide a vector to landing bay. May I speak with Ludington Actual, over._

"Uh, Tai-sa? I **am** Ludington Actual, over."

_Wait one, Ensign. Who does the female voice that radioed us initially belong to?_

"That would be Sybil, the ship's AI, ma'am. I'm the only human onboard."

_Understood. Hold position and wait for further instructions. _Hatakaze_ out._

Sybil cut the transmission to the DropShip. _"Is this going to be a problem, sir?"_

"Maybe, Sybil. We'll have to see."

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**_Fort Columbus  
Epsilon Pegasus System  
August 11, 3068, 0324 Local Time_**

Precentor XI (Kapten) Anika Janssen sat upright, and grabbed her comm unit. _"What the hell is going on? This is way too early for anything other than an emergency!"_ She had pulled one hell of a long watch the night before, flying two training sorties back to back, and hadn't actually planned to be up for another three hours. She keyed the transmit button, and spoke. "Janssen here."

_"Anika, this is Paddy. Two hours ago, we had an unscheduled arrival at the zenith point."_

Janssen's blood froze. "What is it?"

_"Congress class. IFF is squawking a previously unknown SLDF IFF code: QFF-4197, the SLS _Sybil Ludington._"_

Anika frowned. "QFF? Wouldn't that make her..."

_"A drone?" Padraig O'Bhaoil chuckled. "Yes, yes it would. It gets better. Do you remember one of the nuggets who came in last April by the name of John Morgan? He went out with the _Galileo_ aboard the DropShip _Cleseau_?"_

"The name sounds familiar. Why?" Anika replied. Taking her noteputer, she began paging through the personnel files.

_"Because not only is he claiming to be the last surviving member of the _Galileo_ expedition, he's also claiming to be that ship's commanding officer."_

Anika stopped. "He **what**?" _"Oh, where the hell is his...ah..."_ "Well, I don't see anything in his service records about delusions of grandeur or other mental problems. How the hell did he end up being the only survivor?"

_"Not sure yet. Haruka was going to be asking, but we haven't gotten the reply yet. I think we can both guess, though."_

"The Word of Blake?"

_"That's my guess. The _Galileo_ was sent out on a bit of a wildcard. It seems an old friend of mine by the name of Ethan McCall thought he might've stumbled upon mention of an old SLDF shipyard out in the Periphery. From the looks of it, the leads didn't pan out, and it got put on the backburner until recently, when someone stumbled onto research belonging to someone else in the Historical Archives office named Richardson. We just recently got word as to where it might be."_

Anika pondered that for a moment. "That would mean there's a leak somewhere."

_"Possibly, including Richardson and McCall both. They both left the Order under unusual circumstances."_

"You think it was one of them?"

_"I didn't know Richardson at all, but McCall? No way...he was a wild-eyed idealist, but a different kind from the True Believers. Whoever the leak was, I'm betting the Wobbies were out looking for the same yard, and they both stumbled into the _Sybil Ludington_. The difference was that the _Cleseau_ was still flagged as an SLDF DropShip."_

Pondering that, for a moment, Anika thought about it. "So the drone responded to an SLDF pilot?"

_"Well, we should know in another forty minutes or so, hopefully."_

"So how are we going to handle an SLDF-flagged drone frigate, sir?"

_"Carefully, and with kid gloves. This is just the kind of situation that borders on turning into a complete and total disaster."_

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**_Columbus Base  
Epsilon Pegasus System  
ECV _LeonovMagellan_ Class JumpShip) Wardroom  
August 11, 3068, 0436 Local Time_**

Precentor Padraig O'Bhaoil looked resolute. He looked around at the fellow occupants of the small wardroom, and stated simply, "My decision is final, people. I'm going."

Only three other people were in the _Leonov's_ tiny wardroom: Demi-Precentor Kevin Nguyen, chief of O'Bhaoil's security detail; Precentor/Doctor Judity Melfi, Fort Columbus' chief psychologist; Precentor Captain Thomas Keaton, the _Leonov's_ captain; and, of course, Padraig O'Bhaoil himself.

Demi-Precentor Nguyen frowned. "Sir, I must once again stress my objections. We're talking about a risky, unknown situation aboard that ship. For all we know, that _could_ be the Word of Blake on that ship..."

"Which," Padraig noted, "would be extremely odd, since that _Congress_, even without attached DropShips, could have just wreacked havoc on our defensive forces here. We simply don't have the defenses to pull it off, even with Haruka's fighter squadrons."

Nguyen shook his head. "That they haven't started shooting yet isn't an indicator that they aren't a threat, sir."

"Of course they're a threat, damn it!" O'Bhaoil growled. "That's a damned _frigate_ out there, and I don't know if you noticed, but we don't have anything of comparable firepower! They could be exactly who they say they are, and they'd still be a significant threat for that reason alone. I _need_ to know what the hell we're dealing with, and if that is indeed an AI-driven SLDF WarShip out there, with a rookie pilot who somehow survived when everyone else with the _Galileo_ was killed, then this needs to be handled carefully."

"Especially," Captain Keaton noted, "if we want to avoid having an NAC battery puncturing my ship."

Doctor Melfi nodded. "I agree completely, sir. If that ship is, in fact, an AI-driven WarShip, and is also fully sapient, then treating this like a diplomatic visit would probably be in order. At minimum, that ship is, what, three hundred years old?"

Padraig nodded. "About that, yes."

Melfi was silent for a moment, considering that. "Consider, then, the situation from that AI's perspective. It's been alone, presumably, for three centuries, cut off from the Inner Sphere, presumably, and perhaps even more importantly, whatever support network it was designed to deal with. What would the mental state of a sapient AI isolated from outside contact be for so long? I'm already deeply concerned about Ensign Morgan's mental state. We lost contact with the _Galileo_, what, two months ago? Morgan would have been alone for that entire length of time, with nobody but that ship's AI to keep him company. He would have been through an incredibly traumatic experience, would have an almost undoubtedly have a bad case of survivor's guilt, and he's been isolated from human contact ever since. How do you think you'd feel in Ensign Morgan's shoes, Demi-Precentor?"

Kevin sighed. "I'm pretty sure I'd feel awful as hell, ma'am. That sounds like hell, which is my entire point."

The psychologist gave the security chief a puzzled look. "Explain, if you would."

"Being completely alone for so long, after something like that, then being thrown into command of a _Congress_ class frigate controlled by an artificial intelligence? We're talking about giving someone who's potentially unhinged control of a capital-grade WarShip, one of the most powerful weapons systems in the galaxy. And, given that the AI appears to be answering to him, based on Tai-sa Otanashi's initial report, he's got pretty much unrestricted control over that weapon system."

"Does he?" Keaton asked suddenly.

"Captain?"

"Does he really have unrestricted control over that weapon system? We still don't really have any clue exactly how Amaris managed to seize control over the _Caspar_ drones, do we? Meanwhile, that doesn't appear to be an M-5 _Caspar_ out there. After all, we know that _Caspars_ were based on the _Lola_ spaceframe, not the _Congress_, and the _Sybil Ludington's_ IFF transponder still indicates she's a _Congress_ class, though she does have the 'QFF' designation. I don't think we're dealing with a _Caspar_ here, which means we don't know what kind of additional security precautions were placed on that AI."

Dr. Melfi nodded, then smiled. Turning to Padraig, she asked, "What do you thin, sir? Would the SLDF had added additional loyalty or conduct imperatives on the AI?"

Padraig nodded. "Well, if she came _after_ the M-5s, wouldn't you have added them? And, if not, why wouldn't the _Sybil Ludington_ have been subverted earlier, either by Rim Worlds forces, or by _someone_ over the last three hundred years, even if it was just the Word of Blake. No, instead, it appears to have taken an actual SLDF officer to get a response out of the AI. And, what _he_ decided to do was to come back here. So, I'm definitely going. Doctor, it sounds like you definitely want to go, correct?"

"Absolutely," replied Judith. "We should definitely evaluate the ensign's mental state, and determine exactly how intelligent, and how sapient, this AI is. I'm the most qualified person to make those determinations."

"Kevin, I'm guessing you're not going to let me out of your sight either, right?"

"No, sir. May I also suggest taking along an additional 'aide'?" The Demi-Precentor consulted his noteputer briefly. "I've got just the person in mind. He's a good operator, and is also one of my best experts in computer security."

Padraig chuckled. "You mean 'hacker', don't you?" Nguyen nodded. "OK. Let's be careful on trying to hack a WarShip's AI, though, OK? All right...we should definitely bring a medic, since we have no idea what Morgan's physical condition will be. For that, though, we can use the _Leonov's_ assistant medic. How soon can you have your operator aboard?"

It was Nguyen's turn to laugh. "I already took the liberty of having him brought aboard, sir. He flew the shuttle."

"Well, perfect then. Captain Keaton, how soon can we be ready to jump?"

Thomas consulted his notepad. "Ten minutes."

O'Bhaoil nodded. "Very well, then. Time to get going, don't you think?"


End file.
